Patti Smith joined U2 in London (as the band continues on its massive Innocence + Experience Tour across Europe) to perform "People Have Power" and a little snippet of "Gloria."
Bono introduced her to the stage by singing the refrain to "Gloria," which Smith made famously reinvented into a punk song on her debut album, Horses. The crowd got into it and started singing along as Smith made her way to the stage to sing a few lines from the song.
The U2 frontman is obviously a big fan of Smith and considers her a big influence as he very graciously welcomed her to the stage saying, "To take us home, as she took us here, let's see if we can do something very special," Bono said. "Let's try it."
Rolling Stone reports that U2 has played sections of "People Have The Power" at previous shows, but have never performed the song in full until this performance. It's only fitting that it would be with the queen of punk herself.
The song is a powerful rock anthem that has a great call to action, inspiring fans to make change in the world. It can be pretty hokey as any live performance generally includes a section where all the guitars cut out and it's just the drums in the audience clapping away and singing "people have the power," as if it were an American presidential campaign rally. While this show was no exception, it felt more genuine coming from Smith herself, the philanthropist Bono and a band that truly admirers her work. Watch the performance below.
This show was part of U2's six-night take over of London, in which fans have already heard Oasis' Noel Gallagher join the band on "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and a cover of The Beatles "All You Need Is Love." Once the band finishes up in London, it's on to Paris where U2 will film its HBO Concert Special.
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